This photo—taken at the turn of the century—shows Jack Daniel (in the white hat) seated next to George Green, the son of Nathan “Nearest” Green who was the first Black master distiller in America.
It was long believed that Daniel was taught how to make whiskey by a wealthy landowner and Lutheran preacher named Dan Call. However, his true teacher was Nathan Green who had been rented out by his owners to Call. Green essentially took Daniel under his wing and went on to work for his whiskey business after the end of the Civil War.